1- MSc Student of Medical Parasitology, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. 2- Professor, Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. 3- Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. 4- Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. 5- Faculty member, Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. 6- Associate Professor, Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. , a.h.maghsood@umsha.ac.ir

Abstract: (1487 Views)

Introduction: Giardia lamblia is one of the main causative agents of debilitating diarrhea and occurs in endemic and epidemic forms among children and travelers all around the world. The aim of this study was determining the prevalence and associated risk factors of giardiasis among hospitalized and health care centers patients of Hamadan city.Methods: This study was accomplished on people admitted to the hospitals and health care centers of Hamadan during 2014 to 2015. After getting informed consent and recording of demographic data and clinical symptoms, faucal samples of volunteers were examined, using direct wet preparations and the suspicious samples were tested by formalin-ether and trichrome staining procedures. The data were analyzed with Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. The level of significance was set at 0.05.Results: From a total of 4066 (2004 male and 2062 female, with a mean age of 32 years) examined people, 64 (1.6%) were infected with G. lamblia. The incidence rate for males was nearly twice as great as females (2.09% vs. 1.05%) (P< 0.001). The most common clinical symptoms of patients were flatulence and abdominal pain. There were significant relationships between infection and factors such as the type of drinking water, age, and education level, but statistically, no significant relationship was observed between infection with G. lamblia and place of residence, contact with domestic animals, method of washing raw vegetables and travel history.Conclusion: Although the results showed the relatively low prevalence of giardiasis in Hamadan (1.6%), but due to complications of giardiasis such as malnutrition and failure to thrive, especially in children, promotion of public health especially providing safe drinking water must be considered for the prevention and control of the infection.